Growing Fruit Trees in a Small Garden or on a Balcony
Since my recent post about establishing a vegetable garden, I thought I would also share my plans for growing fruit trees as well.
20/09/2020
It is all fine and well to be self-reliant by growing vegetables, but what about fruits. Being able to grow fruit is just as important as being able to harvest homegrown vegetables. The only problem with growing fruits is the fact that you need more space for fruit trees... Or do you?
I have given a lot of thought and plenty of time for research into growing fruit trees, but my small garden has always limited my options. I would love to have apples, lemons and peaches, and perhaps even a few more fruits but where to put them. I love my small garden, it's my escape from the hustle and bustle of daily living, but it doesn't give me a lot of spare room to plant fruit trees.
Then I stumbled upon the idea of fabric pots, after all, this is what growers use for establishing fruit trees for selling and fabric pots allow the roots to breathe and give them plenty of space. You can buy fabric pots in sizes up to 300 litres, which will provide more than enough space for fruit trees if you keep them pruned, manageable and limit their potential growth size.
Fabric pots are available in sizes up to 300 litres, which is perfect for most small fruit trees such as apple, lemon, peach, nectarine and even mango.
This is the solution to all my problems with limited space. Now, I can grow my fruit trees in fabric bags that will give them plenty of room to grow and provide the roots with air and space to flourish and produce plenty of fruits. I purchased 100 litres and 70 litres bags, the smallest being for my mango tree. I decided to see how this went and if they required more root space, later on, I would upgrade to the 300 litres pots. I also found that I could have the fabric pots delivered to my door and was impressed with the quick and friendly service I received.
Fabric Pots work out far cheaper than terracotta, clay or ceramic pots, far cheaper, and they aren't heavy and bulky as pots would be. If I need to put the trees in a warm place during winter, it is easy enough to drag the bags to another area, especially since they are filled with organic potting soil, which is also lighter than garden soil.
Lonely, I am so lonely... a lonely nectarine appears on my new fruit tree.
Since planting in their new fabric bags, all the fruit trees, with the exception of the mango, have started to produce plenty of blossoms. The apple tree was only a thin bare trunk when it was brought home and it was only a week before beds started to spread out and four apple blossoms appeared. While I have no hopes of apples so early, it looks as though I will have peaches and nectarines and plenty of lemons.
The first blush of apple blossoms tells me the apple tree is happy in its new environment.
There will be plenty of homegrown lemons this year and I plan to put these to good use for eating, cooking and cleaning.
Where to buy FabricPots
After searching high and low for fabric pots and gathering information and prices, I finally found the fabric pots I wanted at a company called... wait for it... FabricPots! They were helpful, offered advice and arranged everything to be shipped to my door within one week.
